


Lightning Strike

by LunaRowena



Category: Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Hiding an injury, Injury, Injury Recovery, Pre-Relationship, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23920423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaRowena/pseuds/LunaRowena
Summary: A nasty surprise in the well by the Witch's Hut leaves the whole party with injuries. Adia can cope until they make it back home. Right?
Relationships: The Baroness/Tristian (Pathfinder: Kingmaker)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27
Collections: Luna's Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Lightning Strike

The last thing Adia thought before she went down was, _Maybe this wasn’t my smartest move._

A boarded-up well emiting ghostly wails in an area previously established to be haunted. And she had pulled the top off. It had only gotten worse from there.

Maybe they would have been able to do more damage to them if they weren’t will-o’-wisps and therefore immune to her electric blasts. Maybe they could have dealt with the lightning bolts if Tristian had prepared Communal Resist Energy today. Maybe they could have made the will-o’-wisps visible with a Glitterdust if Octavia hadn’t immediately been knocked out. 

Maybe Adia was an idiot and they were all about to die here. Maybe she was about to be undone by her own element.

It felt so wrong, the lightning pouring into her, out of her control. The tiefling woman felt the current surge through her skin, burning her. She tried to seize control, redirect it, but her body failed her. Just pain. Then blackness.

Adia’s first instinct upon regaining consciousness was to gasp, which immediately lead to coughing as she inhaled a face full of mud. Her lungs burned, and even as she spat out the mud, she couldn’t quite fill them with air.

Someone pulled her up. “She’s alive,” Ekundayo’s voice said.

A wet rag was thrust into her hand. Adia wiped the mud from her face, finally able to assess her surroundings. Ekun stood in front of her, looking ready to catch her should she fall over again. Valerie and Amiri were setting up camp; or Valerie was trying to set up camp while Amiri bragged about her new scar. Which just left… 

Adia swayed a bit on her feet, pressed the wet rag against her brow, and forced herself to look again. Tristian knelt over Octavia. Octavia wasn’t moving. “Is she…?”

“She breathes,” Ekun said.

The gods had been kind enough for her stupid decision. Adia eased her way over to the well, ignoring the aching in her chest.

Three coins. She had almost killed her party for three coins.

Her head spun. She wasn’t going to be much use in setting up camp. Ekun, having apparently decided she wasn’t immediately going to keel over, had gone to help Valerie. Pushing away her light headedness, she made her way over to Tristian.

Adia knelt down beside him. “How is she?”

Tristian looked up to acknowledge her, but quickly turned his eyes back to his patient. “Not well, but I believe we’re past the point of immediate danger. I’ve healed her burns and poured enough healing into her that any muscle damage should be repaired, but we’ll need to wait until she awakes to verify there is no permanent brain damage.”

Adia’s stomach twisted. “Regongar is going to kill me.”

“As I said, I believe the immediate danger has passed.” He looked back up at her now. “How are you? I regret I left you where you were, but I assessed Octavia to be in the more critical condition. Any light headedness? Aches? Burns?”

Adia only now noticed his own twisting, lightning burn on his arm. Ignoring the aching in her chest, she shook her head. “I’m a bit battered, and I feel like I have a few burns, but nothing critical. Take care of Octavia and the others—and that includes you—first. Take a look at me when we have more resources, if I haven’t naturally healed by then.”

He looked her in the eye now, evaluating. “Please be sure. It would be unfortunate to return to the capitol without our Baroness.”

She waved him off. “This is my fault in the first place.”

“That doesn’t mean you need to suffer.”

Adia had to break her eyes from his earnest gaze. “I’m just a bit achy, that’s all.” No need to complain she couldn’t take in a full breath of air when Octavia might be suffering permanent brain damage.

Tristian hesitated, seemingly about to argue, but then nodded and turned back to Octavia.

It was a tense day and a half before Octavia regained consciousness, and another two days beyond that before the group was ready to move. Every morning Adia woke up hoping the aching in her lungs would have vanished, but it hadn’t. Able to assess herself in the aftermath, based on the crackling burn patterns on her skin it looked like she had taken a lightning bolt straight to the chest. Dark red lightning surging through already red skin.

Maybe she should ask Tristian to take a look at her, but with Octavia still weak, Adia could bear the reminder of her stupidity a while longer. Especially since the concept of Tristian examining her unclothed chest made her feel… things she didn’t want to deal with right now.

So she didn’t bring it up when their day of hiking back to the capitol left her winded. She didn’t bring it up when fording the river left her exhausted. And if not for the fact that she took a little too much burn while fighting cultists attacking them on the road, she probably could have made it home without bringing it up at all.

But upon reaching too far for her inner reserve of electricity, she felt her lungs finally give out.

Adia awoke to a warm hand on her sternum. Power flowed into her body, relieving her pain and restoring energy. She opened her eyes to see Tristian’s concerned face above her.

“You lied to me.”

This was off to a great start. “I…”

“I specifically asked if there was anything wrong with you and you said, ‘no.’”

Adia sighed. She could feel the airflow to her lungs approaching normal. “With Octavia’s condition… I didn’t want anyone to worry over me.” They were alone in a tent. Wherever everyone else was, she hoped they were far enough away to not hear this conversation.

“Octavia has been out of danger for days. You, on the other hand...” Tristian paused as he cast another healing spell and another burst of energy rushed through her. “You have had severe lung damage from the heated air expanding inside your body. If your intention was not to worry me, you have achieved the opposite as I now have to wonder what else you haven’t been telling me, holding back an injury like this.”

“If I told you you’re probably right and I’m an idiot would it make you feel better?”

“Marginally. How is your breathing now?”

Adia took in a deep breath and felt her entire chest expand. “Much better.”

“Good.” His voice softened. “Adia, I know you’re tough, but please don’t lie to your healer.”

She grabbed his hand off her sternum, giving it a small squeeze as she sat up. “It’s probably better for you to worry about what’s actually wrong with me than everything I’m potentially not mentioning.”

“One of these I can fix, the other is too much concern with no gain.”

Adia looked down at her chest. “Huh. The scars are still there.”

“I was more preoccupied with the deeper damage. I can fix them too if you’d like.”

“I think they look kind of cool, honestly.”

Tristian gave a small smile. “That’s what Amiri said.”

Adia realized she was still holding onto his hand and let go with a small cough. “Well, I can’t have Amiri being cooler than me, can I?”

“I believe her actual turn of phrase was, ‘badass.’”

“I’ll take that, too.” Searching around for her shirt, she grabbed it and pulled it over her head, finagling it around her horns.

“I’ll leave you to rest, then.” Tristian moved toward the tent entrance.

“I’m completely fine now.” Adia lost her balance trying to get her arm through her sleeve and nearly fell over.

Tristian looked at her with the closest thing that Tristian could approach to a glare. “Rest.” He ducked out of the tent.

Adia flopped back down, grabbed the nearest pillow, and screamed into it. This entire outing had been a disaster from start to finish.

It definitely hadn’t been her smartest move.


End file.
